Expert: Kazakh government’s resignation was not surprise

Resignation of the government of Kazakhstan and departure Serik Akhmetov from the post of Prime Minister was not a surprise, on the contrary, it is a belated move of president, Kazakh political scientist, Doctor of Political Sciences Dosym Satpayev said.

"Some experts expected resignation of the present government at the end of last year after that strong criticism voiced by the head of state . It was powerful and some experts have advanced versions that it was some forces, including the presidential administration", Satpayev said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

He recalled that in Kazakhstan the struggle for the post of prime - minister has always been a struggle between elites.

"Resignation of the government is not connected with the president criticism over the failure of projects in the economy. This theme accompanies all our prime ministers in the last decade. And this criticism with the same success could be addressed to Karim Massimov, since all of these problems went Serik Akhmetov on "inherited" from Karim Massimov", expert said.

According to him, the problem is not the efficient operation of the government, and in the inside elite backstage tensions and conflicts in which Karim Massimov won.

"But this victory is questionable since, in contrast to the post of head of the presidential administration , which was more than a shadow , and not public , but it was more influential. Now position the Prime Minister position is more "whipping boy" , as the prime minister gets more punches", analyst said.

According to him , the President relies on Karim Massimov as crisis manager on that emerged when he previously served as Prime Minister during the global financial crisis.

Satpayev said , we are now also seeing the emergence of risks, both external and internal.

"The external risks are problems with the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space , which cause irritation in Kazakhstan, the conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine" - Satpayev said.

At the same time , the political scientist said that during the previous period of prime minister, Karim Massimov , Kazakhstan was able to emerge from the crisis due to serious financial investments in the country's economy.